Reunited....and it feels so good!

My last visitor for the month of May has come and gone. This time, it was my friend Erin from Germany. Erin and I first met while we were in Jr. High. Not only did we attend Jr. High and part of High School together but we also went to the same church. Erin's family moved to Chicago during the summer of '94. Flash foward to 2007.. we reconnected on MySpace and also kept in touch using Skype. A few weeks before my wedding, I got a message from Erin letting me know she was in Dallas on a layover. That night was the first time we had seen each other in 13 years!

She was living in Europe with her husband (who is German) and was in the U.S. visiting friends and family. It's been 2 years since we last met and now that I'm in Italy, it was time for a visit. We had a great time relaxing, talking and learning how to make Polipo (Octopus).

On their last night in Torino, we went out to window shop, see the city at night, but more importantly.. to eat Gelato!

Maxam "driving" the subway

walking to Via Garibaldi

Maxam enjoying her strawberry gelato

giant IKEA chair on Via Garibaldi

Palazzo Reale

The Po River at night

Gran Madre, Monte dei Cappuccini and the Po River

Erin's family
Bernd, Maxam, & Erin

Photo booth picture
**while choosing our background option, we chose Italy but didn't realize that we chose Florence as our city. So, I had to adjust it just a little.**

2 years down... 48 more to go!!

Today on La Dolce Vita, we celebrate a very important event.

2 years ago today.. I became Mrs. Piacente!! Yes.. today is my 2 year Wedding Anniversary. Those who were in attendance can still remember what a fun day it was.

The Italians have a saying....
Sposa bagnata, sposa fortunata...
which translates to

Wet bride, lucky bride.

I highly recommend getting married in the rain. It's not only fun but memorable. Every time I look at my pictures, I just laugh at the situation.

Let me recap for you:

May 2007.... it had rained almost everyday and I was sure that the rain would stop before Memorial Day weekend. I was wrong. Saturday morning, it was cloudy and some showers but, by the time I reached the the garden the clouds were rolling in... and this... is how we got married....

Our photographer had to find the nearest umbrella so, our ceremony pictures are just from this angle and the Bishop ended up doing a 5 minute ceremony.

The proverb must be true because I have indeed been a lucky bride. It's been 2 years and I'm still waiting for us to have our first fight. Sure we argue/disagree but 5 minutes later, Carlo is saying something so funny that we end up in tears, holding our stomachs and gasping for air because we laugh so much.

So, here's to my hubby...
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Thank you for 2 wonderful years and I look forward to the next 48!!

(i would really love it if we could stay healthy enough to celebrate our 50th Anniversary. after that, we can die peacefully)

Like what you see?? Contact Slideshows by Michelle here to get your customized slideshow for any occasion. Michelle is my sister-in-law and she loves to make slideshows. It's been a hobby of hers for a while and she's decided to turn it into a business. Our wedding slideshow is just a sample she did for her website. Our actual slideshow is much longer and with more songs.

Torino: Nightlife and Egyptian Museum

The following pictures are the conclusion of Joni's visit to Torino. She left on Monday morning which was actually not the original plan. Joni has to fly stand-by wherever she goes and looking at the booking details she realized that she wouldn't be able to get home on Tuesday or Wednesday.


Saturday night we went to Mamma Adelasia's for dinner and met with some friends downtown for some gelato. We met at the Gran Madre and enjoyed a walk over the bridge to Piazza Vittorio Veneto. This particular piazza is THE place to go for a good time. I think there were probably about 300+ people there. There was no festival... it was just Saturday night.

Monte dei Cappuccini

clubs/bars along the Po River

Chiesa della Gran Madre di Dio

friends of a friend of our friend (does that make sense)

Sunday afternoon we decided to head downtown for our passeggiata.

of course no trip to Torino is complete until you have Grom!

Joni in front of the statue of Dora

Chiesa di San Filippo Neri

the enterance of the Egyptian Museum

As we walked by the museum, Joni had said how much she wanted to visit so, we made that visit the highlight of the day. The Egyptian Museum in Torino is the 2nd most important collection in the world. (Cairo being the 1st)

This museum is so much fun to visit but because there is soo much, it would take all day just to read everything and really enjoy what it has to offer. Joni and I had a lot of fun especially as we started making up captions.

the explanation on this piece said that the Egyptians used to draw eyes on the coffins so the dead could see into the next life.

peek-a-boo...i see you

i work, i slave away... i get laid off

mamma, mamma..... senza mani
(mom, mom.... no hands)

no more clubs you y'all

time for a manicure!!!

importance of brushing your teeth twice daily...see how nice and white they are
(this caption goes to Tiffany of the blog Miffany)

hair extensions

Of course, everyone who comes to Torino, must see the Mole Antonelliana

Monte dei Cappuccini from the Mole

the Gran Madre from the top of the Mole

House Guest #2

I said good-bye to Jose & Lizzy on Wednesday (20th) and on Thursday my next house guest arrived. This time it was my friend Joni. She is currently working for United Airlines so, she was able to get a super duper deal for her trip. She's only going to be here for less than a week so, we wanted to pack in as much as we could but, unfortunately, the train schedule doesn't really work with our schedule this week.

But for now, we are happy just to be reunited and having fun in Torino.

when you arrive at our casa... you will be welcomed with a cold beverage of your choice and Internet Access!

Joni's bag got lost so, until it arrived we had to go shopping for essentials
So we went to Via Garibaldi and had some Gelato at Venchi.

then we decided that Focaccia would be great after our gelato

she said she was thirsty, so I took her to the water fountain in Piazza San Carlo

Since we are soo close to the sea, we decided to go to Santa Margherita Ligure for the day. A roundtrip ticket from Torino to S. Margherita cost €27,50. We were there for 5 hours and it was plenty of time to see everything.. even to take a quick taxi boat to Portofino.

Italian Riviera


a statue of Vittorio Emanuele II










waiting for our taxi boat




Santa Margherita Ligure




I'm not sure what the occasion was but there were green balloons everywhere in Portofino








a statue of Christopher Columbus


Italians doing what they love.... Sun bathing






I still can't get used to the fact that here in Europe, men wear speedoes and women will wear bikinis....even when they don't have a bikini body